First the National Republican Senatorial Committee denies a story in The Hill about John Cornyn saying he had been talking to Florida Congressman-turned MSNBC host Joe Scarborough about running for Senate in Florida. The reporter misunderstood, said the NRSC, suggesting the conversation had been about Scarborough running in New York state. Then Scarborough tells The Hill there was no misundersanding: "John suggested last month that I consider running for the Senate against Bill Nelson. His intent was clear and unambiguous and echoed his quotes in The Hill. However, I love the job I have and have no intention of running for the Senate."

The NRSC fired right back: “We will leave it to others to try to ascertain Joe’s motives behind his statement today, but just like the story in the The Hill – it is false,'' said NRSC executive director Rob Jesmer. "In his past conversations with Senator Cornyn, Joe Scarborough had expressed an interest in perhaps running for a U.S. Senate seat in New York. To quote Joe’s own words today, his intent was ‘clear and unambiguous’ and we took him at his word that his interest was, and is, in New York. So not only did Senator Cornyn not ask him to run for the Senate in Florida, but for a number of reasons it stretches the bounds of credulity to even see why he would be considered a strong, viable candidate in Florida this cycle. There are already a number of far stronger candidates looking at the Florida Senate race and we are confident that any one of them can beat Bill Nelson in 2012. But we wish Joe the best of luck in his New York Senate pursuits and we remain fans of his cable show.

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